Cotton-cleaner



(No Model.)

.J. N. SMITH. COTTON CLEANER.

No. 497,219. Patented May 9, 1893.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JONATHAN N. SMITH, OF GILMER, TEXAS.

COTTON-CLEAN ER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 497,219, dated May 9,1893.

Application filed January 19, 1892. Serial No. 418,580. (No model.)

T0 to whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JONATHAN N. SMITH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Gilrner, in the county of Upshur and State of Texas, haveinvented a new and useful Cotton-Gleaner, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to cotton cleaners; and it has for its object toprovidea machine of this character which shall be simple in constructionand which will eifectually remove all particles of sand and otherforeign matter which are in the cotton either before or after ginning,and thereby greatly enhance its marketable worth and quality.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a machine for cleaningcotton which will not only subserve this function, but will also cleanthe cotton in such a manner as to avoid the possibility of tearing itinto shreds, and will make the lint more even and smooth, and of abetter grade adapted for subsequent use than most ordinary cleanedcottons.

With these and many other objects in view which will readily appear asthe nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists inthe novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinaftermore fully described, illustrated and claimed.

In the accompanying drawingsz-Figure 1 is a side elevation of a cottoncleaner constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is avertical longitudinal sectional view of the same. Fig. 3 is a verticaltransverse sectional view of the same.

Referring to the accompanying drawings: Arepresents a hollow stationarydrum mounted upon suitable supports 13, which support said drum at anincline from its upper feeding to its lower discharging end so as toallow for the easy working of the cotton from itsingress to its egressfrom said drum. The said drum A is provided with a bottom longitudinalopening 0, and the opposite curved sides thereof extend up con verginglyas at D, and are capped by the inclined inclosing top piece E, whichthus forms alongitudinal contracted and raised top, lying above and overthe center of the bottom of the drum or the bottom opening therein whileat the same time itself forming a deflector for the cotton, to deflectthe same toward the discharge of the drum after the cotton has beenthrown up to the top at an angle by the agitator to be described. Thesaid bottom opening 0 of said drum is inclosed by the curved and continuons sieve F of wire fabric or perforated metal, and which forms acontinuation of the rounded body of the drum. The said drum A is furtherprovided with a receiving hopper G located at its highest upper end, andwith a discharge opening H located at the corresponding lowest edge ofthe drum, which provides means for the receiving and discharging of thecotton. An agitator shaft I is journaled in opposite ends of the hollowstationarydrum and extends longitudinally through the center thereofparallel with the inclined top piece E of said contracted top. The saidagitator shaft I is provided with a series of radially extending andregularly spaced beating fingers J secured at right angles to the shaftand which travel in close proximity to the rounded sides ofthe drum andthe curved bottom sieve,but below the point at. which the sides of thedrum converge to form the contracted and raised top lying above the topof the agitator fingers.

To one end of the agitator shaft 1 is keyed a driving pulley K which maybe connected with a gin or any suitable power, and on account of theapparent lightdraft of the cleaner, it will be readily seen that acomparatively small expenditure of power is required to drive the same.

It will be seen that by having the beating fingers J, at right angles tothe shaft and the inclined top E, the same are set at an angle to avertical line or .to the perpendicular, so that by drawing a verticalline from the ends of the fingers below the shaft to the top of thedrum, a space will be left between the ends of the lower fingers and theends of the upper fingers to form a clearance for the cotton deflectedfrom the inclined top, and falling in a vertical line to the bottom andcenter of the drum where it is caught up by the lower fingers and againthrown to the top and so on until it is discharged from the drum.

Now it will be readily seen that as the cotton is fed in the upper endof the drum from the hopper, the first set of beating fingers J take thecotton up from the bottom and gently toss the same at anincline up intothe ICO raised reduced top portion of the drum. The cotton beingnecessarily contracted by the converging sides of the drum forming theraised top, that which is thus tossed into said top portion, liesdirectly over the bottom and center of the drum, and as it falls, or atleast is deflected down by the inclined top E the same drops between theinclined fingers and upon the perforated bottom or sieve of the drum. Bydropping upon the bottom sieve the dirt and foreign matter in the cottonare loosened up and pass through said sieve without the machine. Thecotton is now taken up by the next fingers and tossed up into the raisedtop and allowed to drop upon the.

sieve or perforated bottom in the same manner as just described. Thecotton is thus successively operated upon until it finds its way out atthe lower discharging end of the drum.

The construction,operation and ad vantages of the herein describedcotton cleaner are thought to be apparent without further description.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-

In a cotton cleaner, the combination of an inclined hollow drum having acurved sieve bottom and convergent raised sides, a deflecting topconnecting the upper edges of said convergent sides and declining fromthe point of entrance to the point of exit parallel with the bottom todeflect the cotton thrown thereagainst, an agitator shaft mounted in thedrum parallel with the bottom and top thereof and provided with a seriesof radially-disposed sets of cotton-collecting and throwing fingersdisposed at a right angle to the shaft, the bottom, and top, saidfingers traveling in close proximity to the bottom of the drum andmaterially below the plane of said top, each set of fingers beingsufficiently spaced apart to produce a vertical clearance therebetweenfor the vertically falling cotton when deflected from the convergentside walls, substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto aliixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JONATHAN N. SMITH. Witnesses:

M. .P. MELL, J. H. SMITH.

